Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi should urge Vietnamese President To Lam to make concrete progress on human rights during his official visit to Japan from November 8 to 11, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today.
Human Rights Watch wrote to Prime Minister Takaichi expressing concerns about Vietnam's intensifying crackdown on human rights. The repression violates obligations that Vietnam accepted under the 2018 Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, to which Vietnam and Japan are parties.
"The Vietnamese government has broken its pledges for reform and continues to crack down on basic freedoms," said Kanae Doi, Japan director at Human Rights Watch. "Prime Minister Takaichi should communicate clearly and publicly to President To Lam Japan's serious concerns about human rights and labor rights violations."
The Vietnamese government has sharply intensified its repression of basic freedoms over the past decade, Human Rights Watch said. To Lam served as Vietnam's minister of public security from 2016 to 2024, heading the country's national police force. He is now both general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and president.
Japan is among Vietnam's top trade partners and one of the largest sources of foreign direct investment in the country. As Vietnam's largest bilateral donor of development assistance for more than 20 years, and a major trade partner, Japan is in a very favorable position to persuade Vietnam to improve the country's human rights.
On To Lam's watch, Vietnamese police initiated a far-reaching crackdown that decimated the country's civil society, stepped up transnational repression, and expanded the scope and use of draconian laws that criminalize the exercise of freedom of expression, in contravention of international human rights law.
Vietnam currently has more than 160 political prisoners, convicted under laws that violate their rights to free expression and peaceful activism for human rights and democracy. These include: Pham Doan Trang, a writer and human rights advocate; Can Thi Theu, a land rights activist; Pham Chi Dung and Nguyen Tuong Thuy, independent journalists; Hoang Duc Binh, a labor activist; and Le Dinh Luong, Nguyen Van Tuc, Tran Duc Thach, Tran Van Bang, and Nguyen Trung Ton, democracy campaigners.
During the first nine months of 2026, Vietnamese courts convicted and sentenced at least 31 activists, including the prominent bloggers Hoang Thi Hong Thai and Huynh Ngoc Tuan, to long prison terms. Police arrested at least 46 other people for allegedly criticizing the government.
The Vietnamese government has failed to put in place legal reforms it pledged to undertake, Human Rights Watch said. In article 19.3 of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Vietnam committed to "adopt and maintain in its statutes and regulations, and practices thereunder," the rights in the International Labour Organization (ILO) Declaration, including the "freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining." Vietnam also pledged to ratify ILO Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise by January 2024 but has yet to do so and continues to thwart the establishment of independent trade unions.
Japan's own Diplomatic Bluebook 2026 states that the Trans-Pacific Partnership "has great strategic significance in that it will establish a free and fair economic order with countries sharing fundamental values and principles, including freedom, democracy, fundamental human rights and the rule of law," values that the Vietnamese government has systematically disregarded.
Japan has not meaningfully responded to Vietnam's worsening human rights record. In November 2023, the two countries upgraded their relationship to the highest level, a "comprehensive strategic partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the World."
"Japan should stop giving Vietnam a free pass on repression," Doi said. "As one of Vietnam's most important partners, Japan should make clear to To Lam that respecting basic rights and its labor commitments are crucial for a strong and lasting partnership."
